Tried just cutting them out with scissors, but they have to be quite precise and I need seven of them. Mine are all crumbly and since they are no longer available, this seemed to be a reasonable approach. This doodad and an Exacto knife worked like a champ.

The inner cutouts were not demanding, but the outer profile had to be pretty much dead on and consistent.

Missed a few days working on the bus due the City screwing up an electrical permit for my studios..but, the lights are on again and I got back to work today.

Getting the bits and pieces together for the deck mounts. Turns out, getting holes through square tube that line up properly can be tricky so I made a template/guide from some C-channel. Helped a bunch. Also used it to size the length.

Only the quarter-inch baseplate will get welded to the bus. I am intentionally creating a "weak line" via the nuts & bolts on the light gauge tube so that anything snags or bangs into the deck, it will (hopefully) give way at that point rather than ripping the roof off the bus. Plenty of strength in compression though.

Checking alignment and getting a measure across the top.

And...I am getting close to wrapping up the #@$%&# paint removal!!!

Just a little more on the cowl. Did find more lead and Bondo on the other side (of course). Also found a crack in the metal so I drilled some holes at the ends then laid a bead down over it all with my welder.

With any luck, my hydraulics guy will be back in town soon and we can wrap up the tranny, oil cooler and brakes.

Could you use nylon bolts with lock nuts to secure the light gauge tubing? I think even 1/4x20 bolts (maybe 3/8") would be enough to hold the deck load--and they certainly would shear off at a road speed hit. Jack

BJ --- I have a small press, but I found that it was necessary to lock the tubes down securely and have a guide at the same time. Otherwise...the holes were fine on the up side but misaligned on the other. Still need to rig something to reach the center of the roof. The "unique" metal Wayne employed during WWII will NOT stand up to any foot traffic. Heck...the weight of my 7" grinder was enough to cause depressions. I call the alloy "Leadnesium".

Jack --- Don't know how nylon would hold up out in the weather over time. I am relying on (hoping for) the 16 ga. tube folding where it is drilled if it gets whacked. Should be fine for any low speed encounter. If I hit something solid at 65...well, there will probably be other issues to worry about.

Thanks Guido --- Just went and looked at commercial scaffolding today. Can rent a nifty wheeled set up for 28 days for a couple of hundred bucks. At first I thought I'd stack all the pieces on the roof of my 4Runner...then I saw the weight. 1080 pounds!

Maybe not.

First need to find someone with a trailer...then a couple of spare hands to assemble and erect the damned thing. So I just may take you up on it pardner.